The Onion's Milwaukee print edition evades extinction

Never fear, Milwaukee-area loons, the local print edition of The Onion is not headed for extinction — at least for now.

A recent segment on The Onion News Network asked the question “How Will The End of Print Journalism Affect Old Loons Who Hoard Newspapers?” Then came news that the Onion’s print edition in Madison — the first Onion market — will be discontinued later this month.

This convergence of news events caused me to contact Onion CEO Steve Hannah to check on the status of the free print edition that appears weekly at Milwaukee-area coffee shops, stores and elsewhere.

“We still own and operate the Milwaukee edition of The Onion,” Hannah told me Monday via email. “At this time we have no plans to cease publication in Milwaukee.”

Hannah confirmed that the Madison print edition will go away, but said it wasn’t his company’s decision. “Just to be crystal clear, the decision to stop printing in Madison was made by our franchisee, Madison Newspapers Inc.,” Hannah told me.

Madison Newspapers Inc. publishes the Wisconsin State Journal and the Capital Times.

The Isthmus reported July 12 that the last Madison Onion will be published July 25. Print editions in other metro areas also have gone the way of the dinosaur.

Madison was The Onion’s first market starting in 1988. The Onion was founded by Tim Keck and Christopher Johnson when they were juniors at UW-Madison, Isthmus said.

While the print version will exit Madison, Onion executives emphasize that readers will be able to see everything that has run in the paper at TheOnion.com and AVClub.com.